I always love getting new hi-fi mags. Can’t wait to open them. Let’s see what’s up.

*On the cover is a Goldmund power amp. I go to read about it on p102 and see it’s $89k.

Now I don’t need to read about it. It’s fine with me if companies make expensive gear. They can spend all they want advertising it. It’s their $. But…it is less fine with me if magazines feature more than the occasional unaffordable entry.

I read these mags to learn about products that I might be able to recommend to you and carry. I also read just for fun cuz I’m a hi-fi geek like you are. An $89k power amp… no thanks. Products like this are for people who have so much money that they can whiz it away. I don’t know anybody like that.

*TAS visited the Capital Audio Fest. It’s fun to read about the gear they were impressed with, even if it is stratospherically priced. There are new and familiar names. It’s like a car show without the cheesecake. It’s mostly nuts but kinda fun to read.

*They spent four pages discussing rehabbing a Revox A77 open reel. Let me promise you, this is 4p wasted. I’ve saved you some real time here. I knew the project was doomed from the start. To spend fancy money, trying to rehab a 50 year old machine that was unreliable from day one (I KNOW, I sold them!) is a bad idea. We don’t wanna go back in time, I assure you.

*TAS Super Tape List. Now, if you read the above paragraph, you probably know where I’m going with this. You have serious money to throw away if you think it makes ANY sense to buy open reel tapes for $500 ish per copy. Cantate Domino, for ex, runs $994.99, 15 ips, quarter track, not even half track. Sheer madness.

*Luxman, Chinese owned, has a new table with tonearm and dust cover, $13,300. It’s a 55 pound beast which isn’t a bad start. But the fancy new tonearm (bought from a vendor) uses a universal head shell. Ouch! That’s convenient for your cartridge merry-go-round but disqualifying for attaining the state of the art sound. Universal shells have more contacts and wires.

Rega bagged these in affordable tables in 1980. It’s certainly pretty and for the guy with a dozen cartridges…a nice play toy. But please buy the MoFi MasterDeck for $6k instead. Oh, and the mat that comes on this table sells a la carte for $345 (yes, the rubber mat), the dust cover is $795 (yes, the plastic dust cover), an extra head shell (yes, the universal head shell) is $295. Ummm, 6P devoted to this, is more than enough.

*P70 features the Sound Application Power Grid Interface for a mere $25k. Looks like it was made in your basement in 1975. The reviewer claims that glory abounds. For $25k and weighing in at scant 17 lbs, I’m dubious. Bryston’s BIT20 is the real deal, $4600, 85 lbs with 20 year warranty!

*P78 begins in Never Never Land. We get three pages of black magic and the reviewer recommending you buy this $24-80k EQUIPMENT RACK. Yup- an equipment rack. If you hear bump in the night, this is for you.

*p84 reviews Diptyque Audio’s DP160, $30k per pair panel speakers. They’re made in France which is a good start. They are clearly an attempt to beat Magnepan at its own game. That’s fine. It’s a competitive market. May the best man win.

They’re 5’3” tall and 21” wide. They have a peculiar little footie under the tweeter section only. The writer has very nice things to say about these but as money time approaches, he chickens out!

Are you joking buddy?

He says he has Maggie LRS+ ($1000 per pair) which sound fantastic. He goes on, “My impression of the Diptyques is that they are somewhat easier to drive. I also felt DP160 felt small and performed big for a planar, though that is an observation, not a comparison. I refuse to tell you which is better because neither is. They have different flavors and different auras. And you need to listen to both to make that decision.”

Why not man up and offer an opinion? Why are you even writing if you can’t?

He’s saying it performed big for a planar. Planars ALWAYS perform big. They present a tall and spacious image. It’s endemic to their charm.

I’m betting what he really meant is that they have better bass than he expected. This is the most interesting product reviewed in this issue and the guy who spent significant time with Diptyque and Magnepan “refuses” to offer what you’re reading the rag for- his opinion of the comparison of speakers.

*p90 brings us elitism on steroids. TAS has two reviewers spend 8p discussing the Solution preamp for $85k. That’s right, $85k.

I looked at “JV’s Reference System” and it has literally MILLION$ of dollars of gear in it. MILLION$! Just… what is the point of this insanity? A subscription to TAS runs $14 per year.

*p102 brings us to the cover boy Goldmund power amp, $89k. It goes on for 11p. Are you SERIOUS?

Summary

In the entire issue the most interesting thing to read about was the commentary about the audio show with brief comments. I could tolerate maybe ONE article devoted to a Bugatti.

TAS leads you down a dangerous path by clearly pointing you towards open reel tape in 2025. If you have thousands of dollars to flush, please instead DONATE to the Red Cross. Any tape investment is headed to ruin.

I can’t take a $13k table with a universal head shell seriously for PERFORMANCE. If you want an impressive turntable aesthetic in your house, get a Mac MT5 for half the price- not made by a Chinese owned outfit either.

The Planar speaker review offered some hope, but the reviewer WIMPED OUT. I will give you some concrete info on the topic of LRS+ and planars since I’ve been a Magnepan dealer for half a century.

For openers, I haven’t heard the $30k French panels so I have no opinion on them.

I carry the Magnepan LRS+ which is a clean, VERY lean speaker with a nice sized image for its price point. LRS+ needs the matching $289 stands to attain the open sound it is capable of. So we have to recognize that LRS+ runs $1289 pr.

Its bigger brother, MG.7 for $2k provides a much warmer sound with a bigger bottom end. It is smarter to buy MG .7 instead of LRS+. For roughly $700 you get a speaker that doesn’t necessarily need a sub and beats LRS+ in every way, shape and form. LRS+ is simply an “appetizer” to introduce you to the family of Magnepan. If that’s the top of your budget- of course, get LRS+. Then you don’t have to read about speakers for $30k per pair or preamps/amps for $80k plus.

If you’re really looking for a STELLAR PLANAR, please consider Magnepan’s MG 2.7i. It runs $6k per pair with True Ribbon tweeter. This speaker sparkles with life! Maggie makes a tweaked up version of it called the MG 2.7x for $10k per pair. The X version is a bit more solid and focused, and 3x less money than the French guy.

Maggie also makes the great bang4buck MG 1.7i, $3k per pair. The 1.7i has better bass, a larger image and the ability to hit harder than its two little brothers. MG 1.7i is among the best values in our biz in providing you a highly resolving musical experience.